Boise, Idaho: Idaho Supreme Court Hears Lori Vallow Daybell Appeal in Killings of Her Two Children

The Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in Boise in Lori Vallow Daybell's appeal of her Idaho convictions for killing her two youngest children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival. The hearing was scheduled for 11:15 a.m. at the court in Boise, according to a breakdown of the appeal published ahead of the session.

Vallow Daybell is asking the court to reverse her convictions in the deaths of her son Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and in the conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell. Tammy Daybell's husband, Chad Daybell, married Vallow Daybell weeks after Tammy Daybell died, the Associated Press reported. A jury convicted Vallow Daybell in May 2023, and Judge Steven W. Boyce sentenced her in July 2023 to three life sentences in Idaho, with the terms ordered to run one after another and without the possibility of parole. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the three killings.

The five grounds of appeal

Her appellate lawyer, Craig Durham, filed an opening brief on May 30, 2025, setting out five grounds for appeal. The first challenges the disqualification of her original retained attorney, Mark Means, in December 2021. Prosecutors argued that Means had represented both Vallow Daybell and her husband, which created a conflict of interest. Means disputed the extent of his work for Chad Daybell, described it as limited and brief, and said both clients had waived any potential conflict. Durham argues that the trial court wrongly removed the lawyer she had chosen, in violation of her Sixth Amendment rights.

A second ground challenges Means's exclusion from the proceedings that led to his removal, which the defense calls a critical stage of the case. A third concerns hearings held while Vallow Daybell was declared incompetent to stand trial. A fourth challenges evidence the Idaho jury heard about two Arizona shootings: the killing of her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot in Chandler in July 2019 by her brother, Alex Cox, and a later shooting aimed at Brandon Boudreaux, her niece's ex-husband, who survived. Prosecutors alleged that Vallow Daybell conspired with Cox to kill Charles Vallow so she could collect life insurance money and marry Chad Daybell. The appeal argues that the trial court wrongly admitted the Arizona evidence under Rule 404(b) of the Idaho Rules of Evidence.

The fifth ground is a speedy trial claim. Vallow Daybell was indicted on May 25, 2021, and her trial began on April 3, 2023. Durham argues that the delay violated her rights and that she repeatedly demanded a prompt trial. The state answers that the delay was largely attributable to the defense, including competency proceedings, and points to the complexity of the charges and the volume of evidence. In a reply brief filed in March 2026, the defense argued that the violations require the convictions to be reversed, and asked the court either to order the charges dismissed or to grant a new trial. The state has rejected every claim and urged the justices to uphold the convictions.

What a ruling would and would not change

The court will issue its decision after it considers the arguments, and no ruling was part of Monday's hearing. An appeal does not erase the convictions while the justices deliberate. Vallow Daybell remains in prison under her Idaho life sentences.

She also faces separate Arizona convictions. A jury there convicted her of conspiring to murder Charles Vallow and Brandon Boudreaux, and she received two life sentences for those convictions, which she has also appealed. Those Arizona sentences are not before the Idaho court, so they would stand even if the Idaho appeal succeeded.